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May 7, 2020.
Headland speaks with Luke Williams, Head Programmer, at Sheet Metal Solutions in New South Wales about their recent installation of a TRUMPF 5040 Fibre Laser and his thoughts on the Australian manufacturing industry now and post the pandemic.
L: We provide sheet metal cutting and bending services to a wide variety of businesses and within various industries, we service; agriculture, engineering, construction, mining, architectural, transport & trucking
SMS has been in business since 2007, we received our first TRUMPF laser in January 2010, which is when I joined, I’ve been working with Lasers and programming ever since. While originally I was thrown in the deep end at the time, I do love working with the laser technology. Over the past ten years I’ve received extensive software training on–the–job and acquired the skills to run the machines for greatest productivity. I also schedule the work for the bending machines and help run the entire factory production.
L: Over the past ten years SMS has grown organically. We do try and control the growth so that we can adequately service our customers. In terms of advertising for the work, we have a client list and advertise on our website and leveraging existing relationships. Our main clientele is in NSW, although some of our customers have branches interstate.
L: Within the agricultural industry we provide components and accessories for specialised machines and attachments, Within construction, we help companies with scaffolding products, although this work is seasonal and currently down, when work does come in, the volume is high with tight deadlines. Within transport and the truck companies, we do all the parts that go onto trucks, brackets, curtain runners etc. Mining, we provide all the sheet metal work around mining vehicles, conveyors systems, ventilation systems, this industry has slowed down a fair bit, although in 2019 it made up a large volume of our workload.
We’d like to service the Defense (combat vehicles and submarines) and Medical industries ( Medical Equipment) in the future, there seems to be a lot of work currently in those industries and something we can service well.
L: Success for us, is based around new technology, communication and providing superior products. Investing and keeping up with new technology is key, otherwise you get left behind. And communication, we keep in close contact with our customers to ensure they are happy. We also provide a great product. It’s presented nicely, it’s accurate and met within their required lead times. Lead times are critical in this industry and we can provide fast turn–around especially within our laser cutting and bending divisions.
L: We recently purchased the TRUMPF fibre laser to keep up with our workload. We were constantly doing overtime and we needed to increase our capacity. We also wanted to cut thicker aluminium and a variety of different materials. This machine gave us that capacity and capability. It also meant we could cut much faster.
L: We didn’t look at many other brands to be honest. We know TRUMPF and we’re used to it. We also know the Headland service team is there and they know what they are doing, they are quick to respond and very knowledgeable. So it was easy for us to choose TRUMPF.
L: Business sentiment is good at the moment, we are busy and seeing a lot of manufacturing previously outsourced overseas coming back to our shores due to the current pandemic. Let’s hope it comes back in full swing after the corona virus has passed. I hope the current trend of on–shoring continues with more and more manufacturing coming back to Australia. I also think it’s essential for Australian manufacturers to keep up with technology to ensure we can manufacture efficiently and competitively.
Read more about Sheet Metal Solutions and the services they provide at sheetmetalnsw.com.au
Read more about the Laser Fibre Cutting Machines.
